ABC NewsThe AEC had promised improved procedures in the wake of the vote loss that triggered this re-run, but it again came under fire after 75 pre-poll votes were ruled invalid earlier this week because of a ballot box problem.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 7:20:37 AM

Preference deals between a range of micro parties could play a significant factor in deciding whether the final two or three seats go to the Liberals, Labor, the Palmer United Party, the Greens - or someone else entirely.

At the very least, nerves appear to be a bit on edge. Hopefully the AEC's Phil Diak can shed light on the incident when he appears on ABC News 24's WA Senate election coverage tonight (from 7pm AWST, 9pm AEDT).

Mr Wang provisionally won a seat in the Senate election in September only to lose it in a subsequent recount.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 8:52:51 AM

An hour until polls close!

Earlier, the Liberals' lead candidate, Defence Minister David Johnston, said he was confident they could retain three seats.

"Western Australians have acknowledged, I think to me and to anybody who's interested to discuss political matters, Labor and the Greens do not accept the verdict of the seventh of September.

"They do not accept the results of the general election. They've continued to stand on the hose with respect to the carbon tax, and most importantly, from a Western Australian perspective, the mining tax."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 9:09:29 AM

Polling closes at 6pm. Results will be available from tonight & over the coming weeks as they become available via vtr.aec.gov.au

ABC NewsEarlier today, Labor's lead Senate candidate Joe Bullock ruled out leaving the party over a damaging speech, in which he criticised some ALP members, declared he hadn't always voted for the party, and described Tony Abbott as having the potential to be a very good Prime Minister.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 9:34:11 AM

Polls have now closed across WA.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:01:21 AM

And he's off!

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:08:32 AM

Senator Eric Abetz: "I will go crazy brave. The interest will be in the final seat..."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:10:11 AM

Senator Abetz adds:

"The other thing if I might briefly say, this will, I think, see a huge protest vote. Nearly everybody was campaigning against things. The only party that was campaigning with a positive vision was, in fact, the Government."

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari offers his prediction:"I think four of the spots are quite clear. I think there is going to be two Liberals elected, certainly at least one Labor and I think Scott Ludlam will get there comfortably.

"I think there will be a three-way competition for the remaining two spots between Palmer United Party, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. So it will be the Labor Party's number two, Liberal Party number two and Palmer United Party fighting it out."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:13:04 AM

The AEC's Phil Diak tells ABC News 24:

"It's been smooth running today. We've had all our polling places open, everything has gone pretty well across the state."

But as I mentioned earlier, there did appear to be a... well, kerfuffle over a ballot box seal.

The Palmer United Party's lead candidate Dio Wang rejects the suggestion that he hasn't been visible during this campaign.

"I have been too visible in regional Western Australia than other party candidates. That's probably the reason.

"What I'm focused on as a politician is you need to talk to people and to understand what they think.

"And regional Australia has been suffering a long time because of the noise from the Liberal Party and the Labor Party."

When asked if he would vote for the repeal of the carbon tax:

"I will definitely vote for it, if there's nothing else fishy in the Bill."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:43:58 AM

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari:

"We have some early turnout numbers that are worrying at the moment.

"In the first five booths that have come through, first five large booths in terms of turnout, Labor scrutineers are talking about being down about 15% from where we were in 2013.

"Some of that may have been made up with people having pre-polled.

"If that's a trend that continues, I think that is not going to be a good trend for the Labor Party."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:45:58 AM

The ABC's Julie Doyle doesn't muck about with Labor's lead candidate Joe Bullock:

Doyle: If it's a bad result tonight for Labor, how much personal responsibility will you take?

Bullock: The last couple of days have been a distraction from the thrust of the campaign. But it's been a long campaign.We've been campaigning hard here for a month. Campaigning on the issues of health and education and attacks on workers' standards of living. We're confident that that momentum from that campaign will be the thing that lingers in people's minds rather than the distractions from the last couple of days.

Mr Bullock adds that he thinks the controversy over his speech, in which he criticised some ALP members and declared he hadn't always voted for the party, will have a "negligible impact" on the Labor vote.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:49:22 AM

The above stream of ABC News 24's coverage of the WA Senate election is no longer geoblocked, so if you're overseas you can watch online.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 10:56:28 AM

The Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich won a Senate spot after a recount of the last election.

On his chances this time round, Mr Dropulich told ABC News 24:

"We probably haven't got as many preferences as last time but we're confident our primary vote will go up because of all the media coverage we've had. Hopefully that's enough to counter act that and still have enough preferences to get over the line."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 11:04:11 AM

Antony Green:"This is from O'Connor, a vast sprawling electorate and something from Forrest. Nothing bigger than 60 or 70 votes in an individual township.

"These are the percentages that each of the parties is getting at the moment. At this early stage, we are seeing a few parties like the Shooters and Fishers, and Sports Party getting a few votes but they are from tiny polling places. This is not indicative.

"The Nationals normally start at this stage of the count with 20% to 30% and at the end of the night it's down to 5%. This is a representative of the early figures."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 11:06:43 AM

So far this evening PUP candidate Dio Wang has said he would vote to repeal the carbon tax, but the Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich said he hasn't put a stance on it yet.

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 11:24:37 AM

The ABC's Antony Green has started to project forward!

"I've tried to weight out the initial early swings to the National Party. At this stage we have got the Liberals on 39, Labor projected towards 21.8, the Greens on 15.5 and Palmer United Party up.

"We are seeing a big drop in the Labor vote and a rise in the Green vote. These are more reliable than the numbers earlier, but there will be a bias - these are non-Perth electorates we are seeing.

"These are a better set of figures to work on at the moment and that is indicating the Liberal vote and National vote is the same as it was last time.

"One interesting thing so far is we are seeing a drop off in the other vote down the other end. Perhaps the warnings about not voting for the micro parties has tolled with the electorate."

by Katie Cassidy4/5/2014 11:29:53 AM

There still appears to be mixed messages over the fate of ballot boxes in two locations today.

Earlier today there had been concerns about a torn ballot box at Thornlie and a seal that snapped on a box at Mahogany Creek.

Senator Abetz has told ABC News 24 that a campaigner at Mahogany Creek reported that three quarters of its votes have been quarantineed because the ballot box seals have been broken.

"Whether that is rumour or actual, but it has come through. I suspect that there is some credibility to it. On the back of the aged care facility, let's hope we don't have any more debacles," he said.

However, the AEC has dismissed both incidents. The commission's Phil Diak told ABC News 24 earlier this evening:

"It's been smooth running today. We've had all our polling places open, everything has gone pretty well across the state."